October 30, 2016

My friends Mike and Brian run a horse farm in nearby Dover, and every season they throw a party in their chock-full greenhouse. It even has a koi pool. A highlight of the evening is always a chance to stroll by the pens to see the horses in residence. Like this one. So big, so gentle-looking.

October 29, 2016

My friend and neighbor, the artist Cat Bennett, currently has a show up at the nearby Arsenal Center for the Arts. Called "How to Be Friends," and featuring the work of Maggie Stern along with Cat's, it does what I love most about art: displays both a serious skill and technique, and also clearly indicates that the artist is having fun. Here, a shelf of small (~3-4" high) decorated busts that Cat has lined up to stare down the viewer.

October 28, 2016

More stars in the autumn garden. This time, the Witch Hazel, which (get it?) I've only seen bloom in late winter, has suddenly sent forth a starburst of flowers, sparkling against the blue morning sky.

October 27, 2016

Don't let the stars get in your eyes.... Suddenly the autumn foliage seems to suggest stardust. I'm not complaining. Here, a chance glance toward the sidewalk surprised with a constellation of fallen leaves.

October 25, 2016

Long before there was refrigeration, there was pickling. A tradition that continues in earnest to this day. Here, a small sampling of the rich roster of pickles offered at Petek Turşulari, the city's most popular pickle shop.

October 22, 2016

I sure hope the person buried here was named Joy, because it seems an odd emotion to find expressed within a cemetery. Even the fanciful Mount Auburn Cemetery. (I also like the straightforward demand the tombstone seems to make: "Joy, period!")

October 20, 2016

Neo-Egyptian. That's what they call this main gate at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, the first "garden-style" cemetery in America. So many beautiful and touching monuments within. I'll post a few the next couple of days.

October 19, 2016

My friend Donna doesn't like her picture taken. Hence the veil. But I can assure you that it came down mighty quickly when it was time to eat our lunch. As Donna ordered it, "Eggplant Parm, light on the sauce, fries instead of pasta." We also had a standard salad (iceberg lettuce, two grape tomatoes, two olives, blue cheese dressing on the side) to start and tapioca (yes to the whipped cream) to finish. Old-school Italian-American right down to the tablecloth.

October 18, 2016

"Go to the store and pick me up some sausages." Um, you'll need more information than that if you're shopping in a sausage-loving city like Montreal. Here's some of what's on offer within its Atwater Market.

October 17, 2016

One of the pleasures of visiting Montreal at Halloween time is seeing little kids (and sometimes their parents) walking the streets in costumes. The city seems so much less uptight than some of its New England neighbors. Here, "witches' fingers" in a pastry shop within the Atwater Market.

October 16, 2016

Another view of the small Carre Saint-Louis. I love that the neighbors of this residential square take advantage of the peace and quiet it offers. This man reads his newspaper. Others get an over-stuffed sandwich from the Slovenia delicatessen nearby and enjoy it on one of the many shaded benches. Even as the weather turns chilly.

October 15, 2016

This is the time of year that Dr. Blake and I used to regularly go to Montreal. Until we started going on European cruises. This year, we're doing neither. So I'll post some memories of Quebecois trips past. Like this one, taken within the placid Carre Saint-Louis, just steps from the bustling Boulevard St. Laurent.

October 14, 2016

October 13, 2016

Don't you love the typeface on this flower shop? And the green horizontal stripe? And the vertical stripes on the awning? And the red wall color? Wouldn't that be enough to persuade you to buy all your flowers here? Let's go in; it's open.

October 11, 2016

This leafy square, not far from the university in Istanbul, is reputedly the oldest, continuous book market in the world. Imagine the people who've passed through it, the books on sale, the languages both printed and heard in conversation.

October 8, 2016

Old-school. I smiled when I entered Greg's dining room for the first time, the checkered tablecloths, the Chianti bottles as decor, snappy waitresses, the mid-day diners who show up regularly for their luncheon specials. Red sauce at its finest.

October 7, 2016

Couldn't this be a still from an indie film? It's actually a candid photo I shot on the set of a commercial we were filming for Bose headphones. I especially like the half of an interior of a passenger jet that was recreated in the studio to illustrate how effective Bose noise cancellation was in airplanes.

October 6, 2016

Istanbul has weathered military coups before, dating back centuries. Even the name of the capital reflects changing political climates and regimes: Byzantium became Constantinople became Istanbul. The people I met there were among the nicest I've met anywhere. There is a good reason that Middle Eastern hospitality is fabled in legend and in song. I have no idea who these two young men are, but they seem to be enjoying a bit of mid-morning gossip...just as you and I would.

October 5, 2016

The storied Blue Mosque (aka Sultanahmet Camii) is always filled with tourists. But they're less bothersome if you look up. I love those rings of lights found in just about every mosque. On my last visit, I noticed that the old-fashioned bulbs had sometimes been replaced with energy-efficient fluorescents.

October 4, 2016

Take the underground passageway beneath the traffic at the end of the Galata Bridge and you'll see this kiosk selling guns and ammunition with the same businesslike professionalism that you'll find at the bakery on one side of it or the electronics store on the other. A little bit shocking to this New Englander, but no one else seemed to bat an eye.

October 3, 2016

I have been served by this charming waiter every time I've eaten at Çiya, one of my very favorite restaurants in Istanbul. I have no idea what his real name is, but everyone I know calls him John Travolta and he is happy to acknowledge the compliment. Though, to tell the truth, he's much nicer looking than Travolta. Here he's seen serving the puffed bread, just out of the oven, that every diner at Çiya receives.

October 2, 2016

The signs posted said no photos allowed. But how could I resist recording this beautiful dome in the Selimiye Mosque, considered the architect Sinan's masterpiece, and the reason I had traveled all the way out here from Istanbul? Sue me.

October 1, 2016

Edirne sits at the very western edge of Turkey, right near the borders with Bulgaria and Greece. Here is a look inside the city's "Old Mosque." In Turkey, "old" is relative, but in this case it means early 15th-century. When I walked in, I was greeted by a young man, practicing his English, who welcomed me. Then, taking his leave, he walked up stairs to a pulpit, picked up a microphone, and chanted the verses for this midday moment of prayer (one of five each day) that were broadcast throughout the city.